RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Smartphones to Arrive on Shelves in February

January 30, 2013, will be an important day for Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion, as the company will unveil to the world its next-gen mobile operating system, the BlackBerry 10 platform.

Also on that day, we’ll have the chance to have a look at the very first smartphones powered by the new OS version, though it seems that they won’t become available for purchase right away.

RIM has already confirmed that it would be showcasing two BlackBerry 10 smartphones on January 30, but did not provide specific info on when they would arrive on shelves.

However, a recent article on SFGate notes that these handsets will not be pushed to shelves until February, although RIM will strive to have them released as soon as possible.

Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear reportedly said that the company is determined to start selling these smartphones within 30 days of the BlackBerry 10’s launch event.

This means that they should hit shelves by the end of February, even if they won’t benefit from simultaneous availability all around the world.

Not too long ago, the handset vendor also said that it was working with over 50 wireless carriers around the world on the testing of BlackBerry 10 devices, which should ensure a widespread availability of the new platform release.

However, RIM still has to provide specific info on the countries that will be able to acquire the new devices in the beginning.

The company has lost significant market share in the past year, and is expected to lose even more before the new operating system arrives on shelves.

According to the latest report from Gartner, RIM has sold only 8.9 million devices in the third quarter of the year, which allowed it to grab the third position on the smartphone OS market, with a 5.3 percent market share.